Asthma and risk of injury for Australian males aged 6-30 years: a population-based birth cohort study.

BACKGROUND

A history of asthma could lead to a higher risk of injury according to a recent study, but both asthma status and injury events of participants were self-reported, so that the findings might be affected by recall bias and inaccuracy of diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE

To ascertain the association between asthma and risk of injury for Australian males using linked hospitalization records.

METHODS

A population-based birth cohort study of males born between 1980 and 1984 in Western Australia was conducted. Eligible subjects were identified from birth registry records and followed up from 6 years of age until death or 31 December 2009. Hospitalizations for asthma and injury of the cohort were extracted from the linked health databases. Multivariate Poisson regression models were fitted to estimate the relative risks of injury in relation to both previous and recent asthma admissions.

RESULTS

Australian males with asthma admission within the past 2 years or in previous years were found to experience an increased risk of injury. A recent asthma admission was associated with a higher risk of injury than a previous history of asthma admissions.

CONCLUSIONS

Physiological and mental side effects of asthma medication as well as the presence of asthmatic symptoms may contribute to the elevated injury risk. Further research of the underlying causes is needed to develop an injury prevention strategy for male patients with asthma.